The best video interview platforms on the market today share many things in common. Yes, they have different value propositions, the platforms look slightly different, and the pricing models may vary. But at their core, these top video interviewing software tools have one common goal: to help companies streamline and optimize their hiring process. This means hiring the best people for the job and building a culture for them to do great work.

At the forefront of this innovation is Pillar's interview intelligence (shameless plug). Designed with efficiency and equity in mind, Pillar offers a comprehensive suite of tools and features that make it the ideal choice for modern businesses looking to revolutionize their hiring process.

As proud as we are of our work, we're far from the only video interviewing software on the market there are many others. G2 currently lists more than 150 (157 last time I checked).  To help you understand the differences and determine what's important to your organization, we've researched and compiled a list of features that we believe are essential in any video interviewing software.

Essential Features:

1. Customizable Interview Questions

The ability to craft specific interview questions tailored to each position is crucial. Not only does it ensure that candidates are evaluated based on job-specific criteria, but it also provides consistency in the evaluation process. This feature is especially important for remote hiring, as it eliminates any concerns about geographical bias and ensures that all candidates are evaluated on the same standard.

2. Automated Interview Scheduling

Scheduling interviews can be a tedious and time-consuming task, especially when dealing with multiple candidates in different time zones. Video interviewing software with automated scheduling capabilities can significantly reduce this burden, allowing recruiters to focus on more critical tasks.

3. Collaborative Feedback

Collaborative feedback is an essential feature in any video interviewing software as it promotes transparency and enables hiring teams to make informed decisions. With collaborative feedback, all members of the hiring team have access to candidate responses, making it easier to evaluate and rank candidates objectively.

4. Candidate Scoring and Ranking

Candidate scoring and ranking tools help hiring teams objectively assess candidates based on predefined criteria. This feature is particularly useful for organizations with a high volume of applicants, as it allows recruiters to prioritize the most qualified candidates.

These are the primary items to consider, but some added options are automated candidate response tracking, customizable branding and communication, dual panel interviews, interviewer coaching tools, and integration with other hiring tools. All these features are designed to make the hiring process more efficient and effective while promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Video Interview Software

The purpose of video interviewing software is to give you and your team the best shot at finding the right employee. That means culturally, and from a performance perspective this new hire needs to fit your organization. But to get the most out of an interview platform, you have to know what you're looking for in a candidate.

Even the best apps for recording video interviews and assessing candidates won't do much good if you don't have an established process for candidate evaluation. So let's discuss what it takes to effectively evaluate candidates.

When choosing the right candidate for your team, there are a handful of factors to consider beyond cultural fit and past experience. These include:

- Skills and Competencies: Does the candidate possess the skills necessary to excel in the role? Are they a good fit for your company's culture?

- Motivation and Drive: Is the candidate passionate about the position and motivated to succeed? Will they go above and beyond in their work?

- Communication Skills: Can the candidate effectively communicate and collaborate with team members across their respective teams?

- Personality Type: One of the factors gaining popularity in fast-moving organizations is personality type. Can the candidate's personality thrive in your company and contribute positively to its culture?

- Diversity and Inclusion: How do the candidate's background and experiences add to the diversity of your team? Are they committed to promoting inclusion and equity within the workplace?

The reality of candidate assessment is that there are different "sides to every coin." What I mean by that is if you're assessing skills, you can assess hard skills and soft ones. If you're assessing a candidate's personality type, there are at least 16 different options, and they all blend into a high-production team differently.

This is where platforms like Pillar can help you simplify the candidate selection process. Pillar's interview intelligence is powered by AI and learns from your hiring patterns to create a customized candidate scoring model. This means that you can evaluate candidates based on their skills, experience, motivation, communication ability, personality type, and commitment to diversity and inclusion all in one place.

We've also included a suite of tools to help you set up your interviews for success. Interviewer coaching tools, interview question libraries, and interviews are recorded, transcribed, and indexed so that they're searchable and can be shared with relevant members of your team who need to give feedback on new hires. These solutions allow you to be fully aware of the strengths, weaknesses, and potential pitfalls of your candidates.

Best Video Interview Software

Many platforms label themselves as the best video interview software - mostly because that's what people are searching for on Google and it's really good for search engine optimization. However, the best online interview solutions share a handful of things in common. These include:

- User-Friendly Interface: A user-friendly interface is essential for any software, and video interviewing platforms are no exception. The best software should be intuitive and easy to navigate, even for those who may not be tech-savvy.

- Integration Capabilities: The ideal video interviewing software should seamlessly integrate with your existing hiring tools, such as applicant tracking systems and job boards. This will help streamline your recruitment process and save time.

- Customization Options: Every organization has unique needs when it comes to recruiting. The best video interviewing software allows for customization to fit specific requirements and preferences.

- Automated interview scheduling and candidate/ interviewer introductions: These features can save recruiters a significant amount of time and effort, allowing them to focus on other essential tasks.

- Collaborative Feedback: As mentioned earlier, collaborative feedback promotes transparency and enables hiring teams to make informed decisions. The best video interviewing software should have this feature built-in.

- Candidate Scoring and Ranking: With high volumes of applicants, having an automated scoring and ranking system can vastly improve the efficiency and objectivity of the hiring process.

- Data Analytics: Leveraging data analytics can provide valuable insights into your hiring process, allowing you to identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.

Overall, the best online interview software should be user-friendly, customizable, integrate with other tools, and have features that facilitate efficient and objective candidate evaluation.

AI Interview Software

AI interview software is a new category of interview app that utilizes artificial intelligence to streamline and enhance the recruitment process. These platforms use AI algorithms to analyze candidate responses, assess personality traits, and provide real-time feedback to hiring managers, HR professionals, and recruiters. This results in more accurate and efficient candidate evaluation.

Now, AI interview software has "gotten a bad rap" recently as platforms created by Google, Amazon, and others have shown bias toward women and people of color. However, these are fringe cases and far from "the norm." Many video interview platforms offer incredible increases in diversity hiring, inclusion, and equity and have a fair and objective recruitment process.

AI-powered platforms, like Pillar, use a diverse and inclusive set of data and continuously re-evaluate their algorithms to ensure fairness and eliminate bias. Pillar's interview intelligence has increased diversity in hiring in the vast majority of our customer's companies. One customer has increased their DEI hiring impact by over 55%.

There are a few last considerations with AI interview software. These include:

- Cost: Some AI interview software may come at a higher price point due to the advanced technology. However, when considering the time and effort saved in the recruitment process, it can be a worthwhile investment.

- Learning Curve: As with any new technology, there may be a learning curve for some team members. It's important to provide proper training and support to ensure a smooth transition.

- Privacy and Security: As with any software that stores sensitive information, it's crucial to choose a reputable and secure platform to protect your data and maintain the trust of your candidates.

Once you have these things well in hand, you should be on your way to creating an optimal hiring process that’s equitable and delivers a great candidate experience.

In conclusion, look for a user-friendly interface, customization options, integration capabilities, and features like automated scheduling and collaborative feedback. Consider AI-powered platforms with a commitment to diversity and inclusion in their technology to ensure fairness and objectivity in the recruitment process. With the right tools and technology, you can streamline your hiring process, improve diversity and inclusion, and ultimately make better hiring decisions.

If you'd like to see how Pillar can help you make better hires, book your demo today.